


Crimson Star

by tehJai



Series: Lepus [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Astral Projection, Ear petting, F/M, Oral Sex, Pancakes, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Vaginal Sex, Victory Sex, and now we go on an adventure, the plot fell out, urianger actually has a vision this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:41:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23866939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tehJai/pseuds/tehJai
Summary: Hind’s Crimson Star – R LeporisR Leporis is a carbon star with the stellar classification of C7,6e(N6e). It is a well-known variable, showing variations in magnitude that range from 5.5 to 11.7.It is classified as a long-period Mira variable. It has a period of 418-441 days, and a secondary period of about 40 years.Victory is secured, and now there is time to celebrate and get affairs in order.  Love, life and dreams interfere -- but amongst them all may be a solution to a very pressing issue.
Relationships: Urianger Augurelt/Warrior of Light
Series: Lepus [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720030
Comments: 9
Kudos: 28





	Crimson Star

Eventually, the victory drinks the Scions were having at The Wandering Stairs turned into a large celebration with the Crystarium residents, and it had gone on well into the night: hours of storytelling, singing, a little dancing and general merriment under the now guaranteed nighttime stars.  
  
Tiona had nursed a solitary bottle of mead the entire night, and as such was barely catching any buzz when the last few stragglers finally either retired to their homes or rooms, or, as was the case for a tiny, violent dwarf woman, passed out under a bar stool. She was sitting at a table furthest from the bar, leaning back and idly watching both the residents and her fellow Scions take their leave -- all but one, of course.

She hadn’t noticed what, if anything, Urianger was drinking, but he seemed infinitely more relaxed than he’d been in a long time, his own chair now placed flush with hers and a hand resting on her leather-clad thigh. He’d stayed close to her most of the night, and while the younger members of their team were likely oblivious, Y’shtola and Thancred had kept giving her sideways glances throughout, which Tiona dutifully attempted to ignore, even joining in when Urianger had suddenly, and forcefully, regaled half the bar with stories of Thancred’s past indiscretions.

Everyone _probably_ had an inkling of what had transpired between the rava and the elezen before they’d all left for the Tempest, but they’d tried their damndest to deflect, and watching Thancred become steadily embarrassed over the course of the night both took the attention off of the two of _them_ and kept Tiona from doing something possibly a little too forward in public company to Urianger.  
  
Which _reminded_ her --

Turning her mead bottle upside down and watching as the last few drops fell into her mug, she looked over at him and smiled. “We still haven’t had a chance to talk, have we?”  
  
The smile was returned in kind, and with a shift of cloth and the jingling of fine chains, he turned himself slightly, angling his body toward hers. “Hah. I doubt that the midst of an entire world's celebration would be an appropriate situation in which to do so. Though presently, t’would seem as though we find ourselves alone.” 

“Ah, but the walls of the tavern have ears.” She ducked her head and grinned, running fingers across the edge of one of her own, before grinning back up at him. “I was thinking more like we could go back to _your_ place.”  
  
The moment she finished her sentence was the moment she saw Urianger blush for the first time. For a few seconds, he didn’t say anything, just sort of gaped at her, a growing redness appearing in his cheeks. “We most assuredly _could_ , but art thou certain? I admit I left the Bookman’s Shelves in a slight state of… disarray on the last occasion we were made to leave.”  
  
Tiona snickered a little, holding up a hand to try and hide her broadening grin. “Oh, _really_ , Urianger, I’m not going to be judgemental if you’ve left your house a mess. I think we can safely say you’ve already seen me at my worst.”  
  
He chuckled lowly at her remark, tilting his head slightly and fixing her with his intent golden gaze. “Thou _dost_ have a point. But I must ask -- thou art well enough for aetheryte travel?”  
  
She nodded. “I’ve felt the best I have since I first got to Norvrandt. As though I’m all in one piece. I’d tell you I feel like I could save the world, but then you’d probably send me on a journey to do it. Again.”  
  
He got to his feet, extending a hand out to her. “Doubtless thou wilt be called upon to do so later. But not tonight.”

\--

The walk from the aetheryte to the Bookman’s Shelves passed by the gently sloping bank of the lake, and it was there, after several minutes of the two of them walking hand-in-hand in a comfortable silence, that Tiona spoke up, stopping amidst the flowers with such suddenness that Urianger stumbled backwards a step upon feeling the resistance in his arm, letting out a soft _oof_ at the sensation.  
  
She ducked her head, looking around, not noticing any nosey pixies fluttering about, and took a deep breath. "I need to tell you this _now_ : I love you too. There was a lot that I couldn't say that night. And I know full well that I should have done."

Letting go of her hand, he reached to place fingers on her chin, tilting her face up so that he could meet her eyes. "Thou hast no obligation to provide reciprocity."

Tiona drew a deep breath -- even in the dark, he was close enough that she could see the earnestness in his expression. Looking at him, now, with her mind set straight and her soul all intact, was still utterly thrilling. He really _was_ damnably beautiful, to the point where if he looked at her just _so_ or turned a certain way, she felt nothing but heat in her body and a slight buzzing in her ears. "Hah. It's not an obligation. It's the truth. The last time we were alone together, weren’t we discussing how we were going to be honest?"

This seemed to catch him a touch off-guard, and he offered a slightly sheepish smile, taking Tiona's hand again and pressing his lips softly against her knuckles. "... Do forgive me. Continue with thy sentiments."

"You caught my eye pretty early on, and I suppose I just sort of… didn't let myself _feel_ properly. You had your own things to deal with, and then suddenly you were _gone_ and then we got right back into the shite… I know I’m telling you now, but I need you to understand that… the night before the Tempest. I loved you then, too.” 

She didn't get a chance to elaborate further; Urianger sighed and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her, burying his nose in her hair. It all felt so utterly _right_ , like something fate itself had ordained, that he almost felt that it bore no further explanation. He would not, however, lie to her again, even if merely by omission. "I knew this. Though, even if thou didst not, it beareth no effect upon my feelings. There was naught but time afforded to me while I awaited thine arrival. We speak of the truth, and here is mine: I missed thee, and for a time, t'was the one thought that filled the silence in mine own soul, that eventually I could lay mine eyes upon thee once more…"

To hear it felt like being knocked over, even if she was steady on her feet, held fast in his arms. Mostly because, if she let herself admit it, it was _exactly_ what she wanted to hear. Her left ear flicked slightly and she looked up at him, the heat in her face thankfully disguised by her dark skin and the darker night. "The Exarch said you'd been here for years. Someone as brilliant as you with all that time to _think_. And you--you thought of me?" 

Another sigh, and he let her go and stepped back, staring at her with a straight face. "Ah, yes, merely due to thy position in most of our operations." The corners of his mouth twitched as he clearly fought to suppress a smile. "Verily."

"Are you being cheeky with me?" Tiona placed a hand on her hip, trying and failing to look stern. 

"Thou art mistaken."

"I will toss you in the lake."

"Ah, but then thou wouldst need to immediately come to mine aid, lest I drown and deprive thee of further conversation." He was amused; even in the dark she could see the twinkle in his eye as he stepped back, lacing his fingers through hers as they set off once more. 

"Is _that_ all you think I want from you?" Tiona nudged him with her hip as they crested the final ridge and came upon the stately little cottage that she was half-convinced Urianger had extorted the pixies for access to. 

He hadn't been in Il Mheg for some time, and yet the house was illuminated, the soft golden light from inside it spilling out onto the pink-flowered fields. With a slight frown of concern, she stopped short of the porch. "Looks like there might be squatters," she said. 

"Nay," he said, stepping forward and opening the door. He held it open with his back and turned to her, extending his hand again. The warm interior light backlit the silver of his hair and for a moment, he looked to her like some sort of celestial being. "The pixies _were_ here, but merely as to maintain the place in mine absence, and to keep the lamps lit, as it were. I do hope thou findeth the accommodations to thy liking, clutter aside." 

Tiona took his hand and stepped forward, pausing when she realized Urianger was blushing again, clearly still flustered about the state of the cottage. She looked around: there were books everywhere, piled up in corners adjacent to empty shelves; more still in crates in the loft, but there was no dust, no stench of neglected food or drink --

The scent of the room was pleasant: notes of parchment, book glue, flowers, and something she still couldn't place, but that she'd come to associate with him. "... It's honestly _fine_ , Urianger," she said, lifting his hand and kissing along his knuckles, grinning broadly and waggling both ears and eyebrows at him. "It's late. I'll help you tidy up on the morrow."

When she kissed him, he let out a soft sigh, closing his eyes for a moment, clearly savouring the contact. When she made the face at him, he laughed heartily, a rare sound but one so undeniably genuine. She could obliterate his nervous fussiness as skillfully as she'd obliterated Lightwardens, it seemed. By the time she'd let go of his hand, he was still red in the face, but from mirth, not embarrassment. He felt… calmer. More at-ease. 

Tiona was watching him react, _beaming_ at him while he closed and bolted the cottage's front door, her red eyes sparkling the same way they did in the aftermath of victory. "It's a chore that needs doing, especially to get it ready for whoever comes here once you've gone home."

He was nodding his agreement as he came up behind her, resting a hand on each of her hips. "Certainly," he murmured, planting a kiss on the side of her neck. "Pray forgive me my foolishness."

It was almost intoxicating, the way she shivered in his grip, pressed firmly backwards against him.

"... And you _are_ coming home, right?" She turned her head and leaned back to catch his eye, her expression now wholly serious and earnest.

As though there was a chance in all the hells that Urianger would _ever_ consider leaving her behind. He lifted a hand, stroking her cheek, his graceful fingers tracing the markings tattooed across them. She was practically everything he was not: dusky skin and intensely red eyes, controlled fury and unapologetic lust and she was the _brightest damn thing_ in his life. The laughter she brought forth from him made him feel, even if only for a short while, as though there was hope for the world. As though he could have just a part of that hope for himself. 

"Of course. Thou needst not concern thyself with such thoughts. I wish to remain at thy side for--" And then he paused, leaning down to press his lips to her temple.

Tiona shivered in his arms again, closing her eyes with a sigh. "Is it too soon for me to want you to say _forever_?"

He chuckled at that, his breath ruffling her hair, and drew her close. She turned to face him, hands resting on his broad, firm chest, and looked him square in the eye. Implacable and commanding. _Alluring._ "I cannot promise thee such now, Tiona, ere we hath returned to the Source effectively and safely. Every means at our disposal, we shall use, and aim toward a solution. That shall be our primary goal whilst thou attendeth to matters back home that we cannot."

A smile made its way across the rava's face, the steeliness of her expression melting away into relief. "Alright," she whispered, "good. I can work with that. Do… is it enough for you, for now?"

"Hast thou--" Urianger furrowed his brow, confusion writ on his angular features. "--doubts about mine intentions with regards to our…relationship?" It was a question worth asking. They'd saved Norvrandt only earlier that day, after all, and until he found himself wholly alone with her, it hadn't crossed his mind as to what their previous tryst and his confession in the moment actually meant. 

Almost immediately she was on her tip-toes, her gloved hands cradling his face. "I can't presume to speak for you. And I don't want to assume your intentions. You said you love me, but I don't know what that means for you. _Especially--"_

The elezen took her by both wrists and carefully lowered her hands from his face, his golden gaze holding a strange combination of adoration and curiosity. He hesitated for a moment, opening his mouth once or twice, but then leaned in to capture her plush lips with his own, sighing into her mouth when he felt Tiona's hands grasp at the front of his robe, momentarily hoping she wouldn't tear it this time. The idle thought was struck from his mind when she parted her lips, stepping closer and gingerly brushing her tongue against his. 

They kept up this give and take for a few minutes and somewhere in the pleasant haze she seemed to bring out of him, Urianger had a moment of clarity and drew away, his expression growing a little more intense as he watched her carefully. 

"Then I wish to remain at thy side for always, my beloved, if thou needst mine intentions to be voiced aloud. Pray understand that my hesitation cometh from that most ironic of situations - that I know not what to say, so as to impart upon thee the depth of my love."

"I'm a fool." Tiona was chuckling, reaching to brush away a lock of his hair that had gotten stuck to his cheek during their enthusiastic kiss, tenderly tucking it behind his ear. She grinned at his sharp intake of breath as her fingers trailed against its long shell. "I'm a fool for thinking we wouldn't… both feel the same way."

"We could, if thou desirest, set about _proving_ it to ourselves." That kiss, her words, had lit a fire within him and all at once he found he agreed with her idea that tidying up could be left until the morning. 

\--

There were _details_ about Urianger that Tiona hadn't been observant enough to notice the first time: the broadness of his chest and shoulders despite his otherwise wiry frame; the slight trail of hair just slightly darker than that on his head running from his navel to an abundant yet _immaculately_ groomed nest of curls between his thighs; the graceful, slight upward curve of his erect prick and the fact that even both her hands upon him did not account for every ilm of his length. 

"I meant it," she said, hovering above him on her hands and knees, a salacious grin on her face, "when I said you are beautiful."

"Art thou aiming to flatter me?" His hands rested on her thighs, slowly and gently tracing random shapes across her skin, staring into her eyes with that familiar look of curiosity and veneration. 

Shaking her head, she shimmied herself down and gripped his prick confidently in one hand, reaching up and gingerly running her dull claws across his abdomen, the grin on her face only getting wider when Urianger threw his hands out, fisting at the bedsheets and letting out a soft, desirous growl.

As ever, he did not break eye contact with her, though his cheeks grew suddenly red and his teeth were dug into his lower lip. 

Tiona moved further down still, her face now level with his erection, and looked up at him through hooded red eyes and with her own cheeks darkening in anticipation. "No. I'm telling the truth. What I'm _aiming_ to do is get this beautiful prick of yours in my mouth."

He nodded, and she did not hesitate, kissing along his length, and in the span of time it took him to blink, she'd taken him fully into her mouth, her nose twitching as she glanced back up at him, offering another grin, even with all of him in her mouth and surely by now halfway down her throat, and she took it all with ease--

"Gods," Urianger hissed, finally breaking away from her fiery red eyes and wicked smile to throw his head back, his hips lifting slightly off the mattress, pushing himself further into her warm, skilled mouth. He felt her go to work, her plush lips seeming to stroke along every ilm of his now-throbbing prick, her tongue darting out and laving against the head each time she drew back, and repeating it all over again. Her claws against his stomach flexed, digging into his skin possessively, and he found he was content to _be_ possessed, if it meant he was here, alone except for Tiona and everything the sensual rava was able to bring out of him. 

His hands reached blindly, intent on combing through her blue hair, but his dextrous fingertips found instead the soft forward edges of her large ears. He blinked a few times, his gold eyes focusing back on the spectacle between his legs. After a few seconds of him touching her there, she suddenly spluttered against his prick and withdrew, closing her eyes, leaning into his touch. For a moment he thought he'd done something wrong, but she did not miss a single beat in the rhythm she'd set; her hand curled around his erection, somehow just as tightly as he liked it, and took over pleasuring him that way.

He smiled broadly, now understanding he was touching a part of her that was clearly a mite sensitive. Then he _reached_ \-- they were easily more than a fulm long, and endearingly _fuzzy --_ and the way she moved her head to get his nimble fingers just where she wanted them to be, moaning softly, spurred him to gently stroke his palms against their soft shells, and then down to gently cup the juncture where they met her scalp. No stranger to prominent and sensitive ears, he slowly rubbed at their base--

Tiona's hand against his prick stalled as she gave a sharp sob of delight, whispering his name under her breath. Her toes had been curling and relaxing all the while, but when Urianger took to fondling her _there_ , her right foot started to twitch, faster and faster until the sound of it was loud and pronounced and he looked, eyebrow quirked, just as she took her hand off of him with a gasp. 

Mildly alarmed, he froze in place. Her foot immediately ceased its movements. She opened one eye and her smile turned a little sheepish. "... Sorry, I just--"

He shook his head, moving his hands from her ears to her shoulders, sitting up all the way so he could plant a kiss on her forehead. "Thou needst not apologize, my beloved. Didst mine actions… hurt thee?"

Tiona chuckled, rising to meet him, but there was a furious blush in her cheeks; the rava was clearly somewhat embarrassed. "The opposite, really. It was just… a bit much, in the moment."

"Ah." He couldn't help but smile - so he had been right. The sight of her foot thudding against the mattress was unexpected, but endearing. The implication that it was a reaction for how pleasurable she seemed to find his ministrations made it more than a bit arousing in retrospect. "Then it is simply another thing we've in common."

"I'll keep it in mind, then. Have I ruined the mood?"

Urianger's smile broadened. "Not whatsoever." He trailed his hands down her front, ghosting fingertips across her breasts (the way she gasped when he did that sending a jolt of sensation down his spine) and down to hold her waist. "This night hath not quite reached its end. I would have thee atop me, such that I may see all thy pleasure as it unfoldeth. I am, in no uncertain terms, not the _only_ beautiful being in this bed." He shifted slightly, lifting his long legs so as to sit back against the headboard, pulling her along with him. 

Tiona moved with deliberation, settling herself down on his prick with a graceful, sinuous flick of her hips. "Do you find it interesting," she said, her voice a low, husky purr, her hands braced against his chest as she began to rock against him, almost torturously slow, "that I can take every ilm of you?*

The elezen nodded, his face flushed with anticipation. She needed little in the way of encouragement, and to him it was just another thing he loved her for. "Indeed. It makes one think--" Urianger thrust into her, pushing up into her warmth, gasping as she moved again to meet him, "--that I was meant to have thee here." Ducking his head, he curled a hand around one swaying brown breast and eagerly set his mouth to her nipple, planting a soft kiss on it before taking it between his lips, teasing. Her flesh firmed up in his mouth and he grinned at both the sound of her pleased moan and the feeling of her slick cunt shuddering around him. He looked up once more, letting his fingertips continue toying with her where his lips left off. "Inside of thee, I feel as though fate willed it so that thou wouldst ravish me most completely."

Tiona chuckled, nose twitching all the while. "Do you want me," she inquired, still rolling her hips slowly, "to go faster?"

"... I am ever fortunate to have thee," he breathed, nodding, reaching for her hips and pressing his own against her. "And-- I will beg thee for thy… ferocity, if I must."

"I wouldn't say you _must_ ," she murmured, resting a forearm on each of his shoulders, lifting herself slightly and then pushing down against him, hard and deep and with a delicious slight twist of her waist, "but you can go on and do it anyway."

The way Tiona moved, the way it was decisive and _commandeering,_ left Urianger reeling, and the inviting warmth of her body both inside and out sent fire down his spine, pooling low in his gut. Certainly there were more poetic things he could say, to impress upon her both how quickly she could drag him out of his own mind and into the present moment and how _grateful_ he was that she did so --

Instead he drank in the sight of her dark skin over shivering muscles and soft curves and her _eyes_ , a deep crimson, full of playful lust directed solely at him. He knew right then what he wanted, and it was truly a simple thing. It didn't necessarily warrant a speech.

Planting a soft kiss on her nose, his words were warm and intense against her skin as his lips moved slowly down her cheeks, lingering at her jawline. "More," he whispered. "I implore thee. Grant me more."

They had both been wound up, and up, and she did as he asked, pushing him back against the pillows. A joyous, almost feral growl punctuated the moment she went into action, and before long all he could do was hold onto her, echoing her wanton moans with low groans of his own. He swore he could feel that fiery sensation in them both, and he was content to merely react and do nothing -- nor would he _ever_ \-- to moderate the way she fucked him: expertly. Perfectly. It felt like it took mere seconds of her riding him in earnest before they were both desperately clinging to one another, sweat and limbs and pleas rising in a pleasurable crescendo that neither of them seemed inclined to try and control; after all, this time, they had tomorrow.  
  
Urianger looked into her eyes once more; eager, as he’d advised, to see Tiona in the moment, and the dark fire of lust he’d seen there before was gone. In its place was a jubilant, victorious sort of glee, and the mood shifted suddenly -- he may have started the breathy, high-pitched chuckling, but before long they were both laughing through their pleasure, a strange happenstance that lifted his heart.

Dawn was coming, sunlight beginning to stream through the cracks of the bedroom door, and, still laughing, they both, merely a heartbeat apart, fell to pieces in one another's arms, foreheads pressed together and wide, ecstatic grins on their faces. There were a few seconds of silence, where they stared at each other with hooded eyes, each feeling the toll of the last day creeping up on them.

A soft, tired chuckle came from him, and he merely pulled her to his chest and lowered himself down, head in the pillows. “Art thou weary as well?” There was no response; merely the feeling of her hand on his shoulder and her nose, twitching against his breastbone. He sighed, the smile still on his face as he wound arms around her and she snuggled against him, her eyes closed and her body growing slightly heavier as it rested on him.

Sleep came readily.

\--

Tiona woke some hours later to the sensation of Urianger, himself still asleep, rubbing his face back and forth against her ears like he was a long-limbed, deeply satisfied housecat. They had indeed fallen asleep immediately after their lovemaking and _neither of them had moved_ all that much: she was still straddling his waist and had used his chest as a pillow; he was still flat on his back with one arm around her shoulders and the hand of the other now palming the deep blue fluff of her tail. 

And he was _snoring_ , a light sound that caused her entire head to vibrate just slightly as he breathed. She lay still while the sleepy haze lifted from her brain and she fully processed that she wasn't alone, that she _wasn’t_ in her Pendants room with him, and that she’d just had the best sleep she’d ever had since arriving here on Norvrandt.  
  
She lifted her head, slightly, to look at him; his silver hair a mess, lips parted gently as he continued breathing, his chest rumbling against hers. Moving her head left him bereft of contact with her ears, and she watched him turn his face toward where they had once been, frowning slightly before going still again with a gentle sigh.

The rava narrowed her eyes slightly, even as she smiled at the spectacle, slowly and deliberately lifting herself up onto her elbows, his arm limply falling from her shoulders like an abandoned shawl as she rose. He did not wake; did not even stir. And somehow even with tousled hair and all the indignities of a deep sleep upon his face, he still looked astonishingly beautiful.

She rubbed at her cheek. He was beautiful, and she had the skin-to-skin equivalent of a pillow crease across her face. However, Urianger still had her by the tail and still seemed deeply asleep. She was a morning person; easy to rise and to get going once she awoke, though she wasn’t certain if that was her natural tendency or one that all that time in the military had given her. He did not seem to be the same.

Letting out a breath, Tiona wriggled a little against him. “Hey.”

No response, just the elezen’s continued, steady, rumbling snore. She hung her head, blowing a raspberry idly as she rested there, thinking. She didn’t want to startle him awake; her desire to get out of bed and start her day wasn’t entirely that pressing. Furthermore, he deserved to not have the fate of the star serve as a wake-up call for him as much as she did. He deserved to sleep in, but Tiona figured she should at least try to rouse him just enough that she could move. 

She reached out one finger, placing it on the tip of his nose. A moment’s pause, and then she immediately began moving her finger in tight, firm, furious circles. He drew back from the sensation, but his eyes remained closed and he merely turned his head the other way.

And his grip on her tail tightened just a _little_ bit further, though, interestingly enough, his snoring stopped.  
  
_That only works on other viera_ , she thought to herself, the sigh that left her this time just a touch exasperated. Tiona figured that if she was going to be temporarily stuck like this, she may as well be comfortable, and so she shimmied up a little bit - his hand on her tail moving _with_ her - aiming to rest somewhat half-in the crook of his free arm with her face next to his. He was warm and comfortable, even if he was aggravatingly _immovable_ at present.  
  
Unfortunately for him, she was also stubborn, and had one last thing to try. Brushing his hair out of his face, she laughed to herself and pressed her lips to his, a soft, gentle kiss.  
  
Then immediately turned her face down, her twitching nose dug into the apple of his cheek.

“...good morning.” Urianger’s voice was still thick and heavy with sleep, but his golden eyes were open just a crack and as he focused on her, that same wide, satiated grin he'd wore the previous night returned. She felt him let go of her tail, moving his hand to palm instead at her behind, and giving a slow, gentle squeeze.  
  
It made her giggle. “I believe it was _morning_ when we finally shut our eyes,” Tiona said, lifting herself back up again to stare down at him. “Did you sleep well?”

It was downright strange to watch him, a man so normally well-kept and particular about his behaviour and appearance both, lean his head back and give a mighty yawn, to stretch out all four of his deliciously long limbs and scratch at his chin, opening his eyes further and looking down at her with an adoring smile. “I was blessed with a very--” His eyebrow quirked and his smile widened to the point where the corners of his eyes crinkled with delight. “--fuzzy blanket.”

“Now who’s trying to flatter whom?” She shifted slightly, folding her arms and resting them on his chest, ignoring the vague grunt he gave. “You sleep like the _dead_ , you know.”  
  
The grin Urianger gave her as he shifted to fold his arms behind his head was one part sheepish and one part apologetic. “...I dreamt. Quite vividly.”

Tilting her head, Tiona _finally_ made to roll off of him, wincing slightly as the end results of the prior night, now dessicated and tacky, made their thighs stick together for a second before she shrugged and forced the matter, inhaling sharply as the two were forcibly separated. “...foolish of us,” she mumbled more to herself before hopping out of bed and standing there on her own two feet, stretching before him, her fingers interlaced and her arms reaching high. Something in her spine clicked and she let out a happy, relieved sigh. “What’d you dream about?”  
  
“Someone was speaking to me,” he said, idly lowering a hand to rub at his legs before he, too, sat up. “Dreams are a strange thing, as I am certain thou art aware of, but this -- whosoever my mind hath formed, they were back on the Source. Of that I am utterly certain.”  
  
“And what did they say?”

“That I am an idiot who must needs open his eyes to what is above him.”  
  
Despite herself, Tiona couldn’t help but cast a glance at the ceiling. It was enough to have him chuckling again -- she found she would never get tired of making that happen -- and as she brought her eyes back to meet his, she offered what she hoped was an encouraging smile, reaching a hand out toward him. “It was only a dream. You really are too hard on yourself sometimes, you know.”

He wound his pale fingers through her dark ones, squeezing at her hand, though the contemplative furrow of his brow did not abate. “There are days I wonder, my dear, if I am not considering mine own actions enough. What thou wert forced to endure, due to mine actions, is such an unconscionable thing --”  
  
She plopped down on the edge of the bed, still holding onto his hand, leaning close to press her forehead to his, kissing along the wrinkles between his eyebrows.. “It was the right thing to do, in retrospect. And you made up for it.” She drew back and wiggled her own brows, plush lips splitting into a goofy grin as she stared earnestly into his eyes. “Please believe me. I held it against you for … maybe a couple of hours.” She stared until Urianger chuckled again, and then tugged on his hand. “We should _probably_ clean ourselves up --”  
  
He was still laughing when he finally stood up, pausing to wrap her in a tight embrace and rub his chin along her ears once more. “I am still,” he murmured, “fortunate to have thee. Wherefore art thou such a bright star when our worlds brimmeth ever still with terrors?”  
  
A squeeze of his hand and Tiona stood on her tip-toes, planting a soft kiss on his nose. “I have good company. And I’m not as smart as you. I can’t see the big picture. It’s why I keep you around.” She winked, resting her arms on his shoulders. “Among other reasons. Now. Do you have a tub somewhere amongst all these books?”  
  
“Untidy I may be, but I do _bathe_ ,” he said a bit dryly, though the smile on his face remained. “Come. Afterwards, we must needs eat something.”

\--

They'd bathed without much fuss, and washed their adventuring clothes, hanging them off of the loft railing to dry. Neither of them seemed to be all that good at foresight in the morning (a relative term; he surmised to her that it was close to midday by now), and the pair soon found themselves both freshly scrubbed and without much to wear. After some rummaging in the back of Urianger's wardrobe, Tiona had managed to find one simple set of hempen pajamas. 

They split the outfit; he took the pants and strode off into the cottage's main room and she, not being as broad or long in the torso as he, took the shirt, which kept slipping off her shoulder and easily fell to mid-thigh. 

"It's practically a dress," she groused when she found him, busy in a corner and --

The scent caught her off guard: flour, and honey, and berries. Lifting her head, Tiona sniffed the air. "... Are you cooking _breakfast_?"

He laughed, looking over her shoulder and watching as the rava drew closer, continuously adjusting the collar of the shirt she had on and muttering in what he could _recognize_ as a Dalmascan dialect, but he wasn’t familiar enough with the language to understand.

It was clearly obvious, however, that she was cursing up a storm.

“Of _course_ I am, beloved.” Urianger had donned a simple apron that only marginally covered his bare chest and was leaning over a simple hearth, upon which he'd placed a large, flat cast-iron griddle. He held up a ladle and as Tiona crept closer, still pulling at her shirt and frowning. “Pray, tell me which of these fruits thou favourest most.”

Finally gripping the loose ends of the shirt, bringing them together at her hip and _holding_ them in place, Tiona drew level with him. The griddle was bare and the burner below not yet turned on; upon it was a large bowl full of some sort of pudding or batter, and there were an assortment of berries and fruit laid out on the adjoining counter. One of these was blueberries, small and uniform, and she picked up the bowl, sniffing heartily at them, her nose-twitches becoming more pronounced. 

“These,” she said softly. The blueberries smelled fresh, sweet, and she was _certainly_ very hungry. “...what’s in the bowl?”

For a split second, he was utterly confused, but then he _remembered_ : they’d met her mere moons after she’d escaped Dalmasca. Perhaps something as innocuous as a pancake was not eaten there. “I presume pancakes hath not traveled so far as Dalmasca?” He smiled at her, picking up the bowl, setting it to the side to light the burner. Once it was warmed, he stepped up to it, dipping his ladle into the bowl. “I shall demonstrate.” He scooped some of the concoction and poured it into the middle of the griddle. It slowly spread until it was a circle a handful of ilms wide, and then Urianger reached over, into the bowl she was holding, and sprinkled a handful of berries atop it. 

Tiona watched, transfixed. “...no, I can’t say I’ve seen this before. It looks something like naan, but the dough is… well, that’s not dough. Is it sweet?”

“It needeth not be such,” he said, laying down the ladle and picking up a spatula. “They can be savoury, if one chooseth the appropriate toppings.”  
  
“Clearly it _is_ a cake,” she said with a grin, “but what’s in the bowl?”

“Flour. Water. Salt and sugar, as well as butter and salt.” His smile turned a little less reserved, more of that open curiosity mixed with adoration on his face, and lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. “The recipe hath found its way to me by way of Tataru, so thou may rest assured they will be pleasing to thy palate.”

She smirked, turning her face to kiss the inside of his wrist, and then taking two steps forward so she could kiss him on the cheek. “Good. Because we _may_ want to discuss your dream and it _may_ be wise if we’re well-fed.”

Urianger smiled. “Dost thou believeth it a portent of some kind?” Turning away, he slid his spatula underneath the now-bubbling pancake, flipping it over with a practiced hand.   
  
“You know more about that than me,” she said, reaching up slightly and ruffling his hair for a moment before setting the berry-bowl back on the counter and sitting down at the nearby table, already set for two, albeit with a haphazard arrangement of mismatched plates and flatware. “So what do _you_ think? Who did you see? I believe you were certain you were speaking to someone back home on the Source.”

“I have given thought to the matter,” he said pensively, watching the pancake, standing in front of the griddle with a hip cocked. "It may have been a product of mine own mind…" He trailed off, head tilted as he removed the now-golden pancake from the griddle and began to repeat the process. 

"But maybe not. Isn't astrology about portents and destiny and all that?" Tiona moved slightly to tuck her legs underneath her on the chair, but was inadvertently bound in place by the flapping hems of her shirt. She growled and yanked it off of where it had caught on the chair's joinery. "Seems like the kind of discipline where you would take dreams very seriously."

"Certainly, that is a facet of it, but thou knowest as well as I that I have not had any true visions of mine own. I am loathe to consider it as a possibility." He continued cooking, adding peaches to some of the pancakes, idly wiping batter off of his fingertips onto the front of his apron. 

The rava waited patiently, letting the sizzling of the griddle fill the silence, and when Urianger came to the table with a stack of almost perfectly circular pancakes - and honey and softened butter and whipped cream to go with them - she leaned forward to serve herself and the damnable, overlarge shirt caught on her chair again. 

"... This is entirely impractical," she groused. "I'm going to take it off, if that's alright with you?"

He looked up from where he'd dutifully taken over serving her breakfast, and went so suddenly red in the face that the blush reached the tips of his ears. "... I would take no offense," he said, watching while she immediately stripped the garment off, and sat there, all blue and brown and very _nude_ , reaching for her plate. 

He couldn't help but watch for a moment as he sat opposite her and arranged his own plate: here was the Warrior of Light, his beloved, bright star, slathering her pancakes with every offered topping while wearing absolutely nothing and not seeming to be bothered by it. 

Her lack of shame was… appealing, to be certain. 

"Two things," she said after taking her first bite. "First, I _definitely_ love you now, for these cakes alone. Second, why would you doubt your capability? We've known each other for a long time and I _know_ you are brilliant, and in tune to things the rest of us might not be."

His blush had started to dissipate once he realized she was not interested in turning breakfast into anything more than a shared meal, and he smiled across the table at her. "I am loathe to entertain the possibility, as I may be entirely wrong. Perhaps someone is reaching out, or I to them in some manner; perhaps these are things conjured from mine own… insecurities, as it were. Either possibility is equally likely."  
  
Tiona stopped chewing and lowered her fork, a slight frown on her face as she regarded the elezen. Save for the usual periodic twitching of her nose, there was no motion, but she was _staring_ into his face.

The look was enough to catch Urianger on the back foot; he gasped audibly and locked eyes with her while visibly squirming in place. He seemed entirely put off by the seriousness of the moment, juxtaposed with the absurdity of how exactly unbothered she was by being in such a state of nature. His flush started anew, just as soon as it had left, and his mind began to race entirely away from the matters at hand. He was by no means a prude, or the sort of man whose sensibilities were often hijacked by his libido, but it was _she_ sitting there across from _him_ and _Twelve forfend_ , _I could ask to have her right here and now_ \-- 

_Oh, do be sensible._ He cleared his throat. “...is aught amiss?”

Warm chuckles left the rava, who clearly took note of his reaction and slouched forward just a little, placing her arms in front of her and digging her fork into her pancake, dipping it in honey and taking a bite, speaking around it: “What was it you told Ryne back in Amh Araeng? Something about having faith?”

“...yes, but --”  
  
“Is it so bad for you to have faith in _yourself?”_ Tiona continued eating, her free arm obscuring most of the view of her body, but the deep red of her eyes stayed locked on his, resolute and earnest. 

He sighed. “Such is a difficult thing to do, in the wake of all that has occurred.”

Chewing pensively, she tilted her head. “Well. If _you_ won’t have faith in yourself, then _I_ will. I have a feeling that if you dream again tonight, and let it happen, you might come away from it with more answers than questions.”

"Whosoever they were, my beloved, need I remind thee they hath called me an idiot?"

Tiona leaned back in her chair, grinning over at him, raising a hand to fluff up the outward edge of her ear, revealing her body once more and Urianger missed his own mouth trying to eat another bite of pancake, a situation that lead to the two of them laughing over their breakfast. 

For a full minute, there was no conversation, just the two of them and their mirth -- no thoughts of dreams or how to get him and the other Scions back to the Source -- just love, and joy, and food. 

It was almost idyllic. 

"So prove them _wrong,_ " she said, wiping tears from the corner of her eyes, still chuckling. "Show whoever it is that you're as brilliant as you are."

Another smile blossomed over his face, and he quirked an eyebrow knowingly in her direction. "Very well," he said, spearing the errant piece of pancake and popping it into his mouth, "but I shall need thy assistance."

"Hah. For what?"

His golden eyes darkened and he licked his lips. "Thou may recall that mine initial dream came about following a most pleasurable instance involving thy presence… and thy body."

"Are you hoping I ride you into another vision?"

"... Indeed, my bright star. Indeed."

\--

They hadn't even tidied up the books, Urianger realized as he felt the sleepy haze of afterglow begin to set in. His limbs were heavy, but he had the sense this time to let Tiona gently disengage and lay herself beside him, sighing softly as the gentle rake of her dulled claws against his chest lull him into slumber. 

His eyes closed, and he saw the _stars_ of an unknown sky _,_ and a myriad of tiny explosions forming amongst them, seemingly out of nowhere, each spreading in a random pattern of arcs and spirals --

A tall woman, all muscles and slate-coloured skin and deep red hair hovered a distance away among them, her back turned away from the elezen. He moved through the stars and arcs as though gliding through air, and as he approached, she turned around. 

The sea wolf roegadyn wore a stern expression, but her eyes -- her eyes were dark, featureless, and infinite, with a galaxy all their own within each. 

"You figured it out," she said, though her voice sounded muffled, as if something blocked her from him. "So your eyes are half-open. A decent first step."

He frowned at her visage -- her starry eyes were not even looking in his direction, but at something beyond him. Looking backward, he saw only more stars and arcs. "So this is _not_ a fiction of mine own mind." He turned his attention back to the woman. 

"Nope."

"Prithee explain, then, what it is thou hast done."

Her answer was simple, and yet utterly laced with mystique and more questions, even from someone as learned as he. She was no villain, no Ascian or primal, but he was still a bit weary of what her words might imply. 

"I thought you were an astrologian," she said lightly, "and that you'd recognized it right away. Don't we all know astral projection when we see it?"

"I am afraid I do not."

And the woman grinned, but it was a touch sardonic and her laughter was condescending. "Interesting, considering, well, here we are. Not bad for an ignorant idiot, and considering ignorance can be dealt with, I suppose I must ask if you want to learn."

"... I am -- I do not believe it possible for me to travel to thy locale at present."

Her eyebrows rose and she sighed. "When you get _back_ , fool. You will learn when you get back."

"How dost thou _know_ \--" It chilled him, how much she knew compared to how much he didn't. And yet -- something about her manner seemed to belie any nefarious intentions. Perhaps this time there was no tit-for-tat, no ulterior motive, and she merely wanted to teach. 

He knew he was still within a dream, and that his soul yet slumbered in Tiona's warm and familiar embrace, but he could not bear to wake before his curiosity was satisfied. 

"Do you really believe astrology is merely card tricks and fortune-telling? Or is that what you tell yourself because the notion that you can harness the power of the cosmos too much for your simple mind to bear?"

"Sharlayan techniques --"

She did not let him speak, waving an arm dismissively. "Are shite. Ishgardian techniques are also shite. Stop reading and cataloging and _look at what is above you_."

He looked at her, puzzled, floating in the infinite, illuminated expanse of wherever it was that one astral projected to. 

"The _stars,_ you drooling idiot. Stop looking at tomes and your girlfriend's chest and look at where you draw your power from. Get to know it. And realize it's yours to use. 

"It may yet help bring you home."

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, that's my other character there at the end. The Plot fell out, so I guess we have a prologue to a longer work baking in amongst all this smut and pancakes.
> 
> Continued thanks to the degens at [Book Club](https://discord.gg/k43j3W4) whose continued encouragement assisted in keeping this going through Current Events
> 
> Special thanks as always to Chaemera for the Shakspearean Consultation, DT Maxwell (Draya) for the support and yelling about headcanons, and VicTheSpookyGoat for the good ol' clarity pass.


End file.
